Cost Accountant

Cost Accountant

Location: Oxford, North Carolina

Employment Type: Full-Time

Job Summary

The Cost Accountant is responsible for inventory control, cost accounting, financial reporting support, inventory reconciliations, and selected accounts receivable activities. This role helps ensure accurate inventory records, reliable product costing, and compliance with accounting principles and company policies.

Essential Functions

• Inventory Controls: Develop, implement, manage, and continuously improve inventory control procedures to ensure accurate inventory records and valuation.
• Product Costing: Reliably and accurately establish and maintain costs for manufactured and purchased finished goods, including material, labor, and overhead components.
• Customer Account Support: Manage selected customer accounts within the accounts receivable collection process by monitoring outstanding balances, helping resolve payment issues, and communicating account status as needed.
• Cost Impact Analysis: Assist in evaluating the financial impact of changes in product design, raw materials, supplier pricing, and manufacturing processes on product costs and margins.
• Physical Inventory & Cycle Counts: Assist with physical inventories and monitor the cycle count program, including researching discrepancies and supporting corrective actions.
• Purchase Price Monitoring: Work closely with Purchasing to proactively identify, analyze, and report supplier and material price changes and their impact on product costs.
• Financial Close: Participate in month-end and year-end close processes, including inventory and cost-related reconciliations, analysis, and journal entries as required.
• Management Reporting: Prepare ad hoc financial and management reports by collecting, analyzing, and summarizing account information, operational data, and trends.
• Audit Support: Assist with annual financial audits by preparing schedules, documentation, reconciliations, and supporting information.
• Continuous Improvement: Identify and recommend improvements to accounting, costing, inventory, and reporting systems and procedures, and help implement approved changes.
• Internal Controls: Maintain financial security and data integrity by following established internal controls and developing additional controls where necessary.
• Other Responsibilities: Support accounting, financial analysis, and related projects as needed.

Qualifications

• Thorough knowledge of accounting procedures.
• Knowledge and understanding of financial accounting statements.
• Experience with general ledger functions.
• Advanced Microsoft Excel skills, including spreadsheets, formulas, data analysis, and reporting; proficiency with Microsoft Word and Outlook.
• Strong aptitude for numbers.
• Strong analytical skills.
• Accuracy with attention to detail.
• Self-motivated, with the ability to apply business judgment and financial knowledge to solve problems.
• Strong work ethic, with the ability to work independently and as part of a team.
• Strong verbal and written communication skills, with the ability to communicate effectively with all levels of the organization.
• Knowledge of Access and SQL is a plus.

Experience

• Two years of accounting experience in a manufacturing environment.

Education

• Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance, or a related field.

Required Qualifications

• Product Costing Experience: Must have hands-on experience applying costs to products being manufactured.
• Education: Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance, or a related field.
• Manufacturing Accounting Experience: At least two years of accounting experience in a manufacturing environment. Manufacturing experience is essential. Service, retail, or public accounting experience alone does not qualify.

Preferred Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Accounting or Finance.
• Three to five years of manufacturing accounting experience.
• Strong Excel skills, including Pivot Tables, VLOOKUP/XLOOKUP, and Power Query.
• ERP experience with systems such as SAP, Epicor, Oracle, Dynamics, or similar platforms.
• Standard costing and variance analysis experience.
• Physical inventory and cycle count experience.
• SQL, Power BI, or Access experience.
• Exposure to Lean Manufacturing or Six Sigma.